The damage religion done to the advancement and treatment of mental illness

Throughout history mental illness has not been dealt with as the serious and real problem it is. This stems from the view religion that the person and the mind,spirit, soul or whatever you choose to call it are 2 distinct entities. Some how the mind supersedes the body therefore this is what makes us immortal. The body dies and the mind, spirit or soul goes on. With this type of thinking the mind could be possessed by evil. This used to be the early explaination for everything from epilepsy to many other mental illnesses. Because of this mental illnesses such as bi-polar disorder and others were treated as a spiritual problem. These are biological and chemical brain disorders. Many people in society don't seem to understand this. Because of this the mentally ill are not treated as well as they should be. Our streets are full of them. We look at them as if they should be able to control their situation through willpower. This is bullshit and wrong.

Abraham was a paranoid schizophrenic, most major religious figures were obviously mentally ill. Of course the religious adamantly deny this and many prominent religious leaders of today are vehemently anti-psychiatry.